Date-Nut Smoothie

My relationship with dates is fairly long and storied. My first encounter was when I was an adolescent on a youth group trip out near Palm Desert. As part of the excursion we took a trip to Hadley date farm, were corraled (as is required to mobilize a group of pre-teens in any one direction) into a small, old theater, and sat to watch a film entitled “The Sex Life of a Date.” Needless to say, the distracting nature of the film’s title completely derailed any ability I had to absorb the gripping content, and the entire experience was lost on me.

My relationship with dates is fairly long and storied. My first encounter was when I was an adolescent on a youth group trip out near Palm Desert. As part of the excursion we took a trip to Hadley date farm, were corraled (as is required to mobilize a group of pre-teens in any one direction) into a small, old theater, and sat to watch a film entitled “The Sex Life of a Date.” Needless to say, the distracting nature of the film’s title completely derailed any ability I had to absorb the gripping content, and the entire experience was lost on me.

Then, as I got a bit older, I found myself in a dried fruit and nut store in Idyllwild, Ca, where my family had a cabin at the time. I’ve always had an affinity for any store selling semi-perishables in large barrels. I was convinced into trying their signature date shakes, and immediately I was hooked. I discovered that dates were in fact nature’s easily transportable take on caramel, and about the tastiest natural sweetener I’d come across. After my interest in agriculture had begun to develop (blossom?), a subsequent trip to the same date farm, and viewing of the same suggestively disappointing film, educated me on just how fickle date cultivation is, actually requiring hand pollination.

Regardless of how interesting or boring the sex life of a date may be, they are tasty, and in my opinion, lend to a very good smoothie. And they are good for you, too. Dates are rich in antioxidants, high in fiber, and naturally low-glycemic – again, making them a nutritionally rich sweetening option. With the addition of protein (as well as probiotic bacteria) from kefir or yogurt and healthy fats from nuts, this smoothie is nutritionally balanced. Making the perfect smoothie is like making the perfect salsa, it is a white-whale of a quest that’ll take a lifetime, and then some. But as smoothies go, I have been sold on this one for a while.

Recipe ID: 365